Kindred
by fangirlishness.101
Summary: The five times Zac met his predecessors of the merperson persuasion without knowing it... and the one time he did.


**Title: **Kindred

**Author:** Fangirlishness.101

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Jonathan M. Shiff Productions. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Summary: **The five times Zac met his predecessors of the merperson persuasion without knowing it... and the one time he did.

**Characters: **Pretty much everyone's fair game.

**Pairings: **Unabashed Cleo/Lewis, Rikki/Zane, Emma/Ash and Bella/Will.

**Rating:** K

**Warnings: **None that I can think of.

**Author's Note: **So I'm posting this having written it several months ago, after having only watched a couple of episodes of the first season. I have since seen the rest of the season, so I've tried retrofitting the story to make it fit somewhere just before the season finale. However, it's not perfect, so any concrit you can provide would be muchly appreciated. There is another reason why I chose to post this now as well: I am very happy to have received confirmation that season 2 is going ahead. I knew they were planning it, but I was half-expecting it to fall through thanks to Lucy Fry's role in Vampire Diaries. However, I now know that they have started filming. The best part of it is how I found out: my friend was telling me about how he literally tripped into the filming of one of the episodes as it was being filmed. Yeah, I thought it was awesome too. Especially since he had no clue what was going on, so his general response was "WTF? Is that a mermaid?"

Anyway, without further ado...

I: Cleo

In normal circumstances, Zac would have been fascinated by the man in front of him. Once upon a time (had it really only been four months?) Zac was convinced that marine biology was the perfect field for him. Growing up on the Gold Coast with a passion for the ocean and everything in it and a talent for science, he had decided early on that it was the sort of job he'd be happy doing for the rest of his life. So he designed his courseload (maths, physics, chemistry, biology, a computer course and the unfortunately requisite English course) based on what would eventually get him entry into the marine and environmental studies at the local university.

However, all of that occurred before a job based around water was completely and utterly out of the question for him. While he loved being a merman and everything that came with it, he still grieved over the loss of his long-term dream. It was that grief that made it very difficult for him to listen to the man in front of him.

Lewis McCartney was an alumni of his school, which was the only reason that said school was able to get such a distinguished scientist to take a day out of his extraordinarily busy research schedule to talk to a bunch of borderline uninterested (because who could be _completely_ uninterested in a man like that) students about science. Lewis McCartney was also a man who was very passionate about his Science (a capitalisation that Lewis felt Science deserved), and made Zac so painfully interested in everything he spoke about that it was very much a struggle to remind himself that no, he could not go out and apply for the same school Lewis did, and no, he would not (as things stood, anyway) be able to plan his own research projects into sharks and coral and phytoplankton and any number of other fascinating topics.

As Lewis' speech drew to a close, Zac forced himself to look away from the engaging speaker, and let his gaze drift tothe window looking into the hallway. His glance outside turned into a stare as a very pretty woman approached the door of the classroom he, his classmates and Lewis were occupying. There was something about her...

It was not just that she was beautiful, for though she was, there were many beautiful women he had seen that had not enthralled him the way she did now. Nor was it that she was unfamiliar: if the fond glance towards the blond speaker was any indication, she was the infamous wife that he mentioned many times while speaking of his research. It was not, if she was indeed the wife he spoke of, that she was an accomplished scientist in her own right (her research in dolphin pod social dynamics and dolphin anatomy was groundbreaking, though Lewis' work with sharks was even more so). None of that could fully explain the pull he felt in what could only be his soul, the sudden sense of kindred spirit.

But as quickly as the moment had arrived, it dispersed as the students around him burst into applause as Lewis finished speaking, breaking the trance he had fallen into. Lewis looked embarrassed at the attention and blushed as he tried to hide behind his wife. For someone who could be so animated and charismatic when he spoke of topics that he was truly passionate about, he was oddly awkward the moment he stopped talking about them. But for all that he enjoyed Lewis' presentation, Zac could not forget the strange draw of his wife, even as both McCartneys left the room to return to their research vessel, hushed whispers oddly urgent.

II: Rikki

It had been weeks since Lewis' visit to the school and the odd encounter with his wife. While Zac had not forgotten it, it was pushed to the back of his mind as the chaos that passed as his life continued. Between the increasingly complex merman stuff (which Cam still teased him relentlessly about), his 'merperson lessons' with Rita and relentless schoolwork, life had not gotten any easier. In fact, it was the latter that led to his current presence in the juicebar/function centre that was the source of yet another complexity.

That complexity came in the form of the owner of the bar and co-founder of the 'Rikki's' franchise.

She was slight in build and fair in colouring, both of which leant her an air of innocence totally at odds with the fiery debate currently occurring in front of them. His entire English class were at the second of the Rikki's bars, where its manager, namesake and her partner (both in the business and intimate sense) were currently engaged in a heated discussion as to what to do with them. Apparently Ash (the manager) had booked out the venue for the school excursuin with Zane's blessing, while Rikki had planned on closing the bar for the afternoon to do the annual stocktake.

While everyone else was standing around, chatting amicably and attempting to ignore the fight, Zac was busy trying to figure out why exactly the weird draw had returned, this time with an entirely different individual. She was pretty, he'll give her that (although even that was quite a massive understatement), and only a few years older than him, so it wasn''t even creepy. But it wasn't attraction that was monopolising his attention. Actually, even the vague internal allusion to sexual feelings almost disgusted him. So not a crush then.

His attention was momentarily drawn from his ruminations by his friend beside him. While Zac wasn't staring for sexual reasons, he certainly couldn't say the same of Cam. But irrespective of their different reasons for looking, Zane was giving them both deathglares. And since Zac was aware that Zane was a very rich, very... tempestuous young man, and it was a fight he could not afford to get into, he quickly averted his eyes and elbowed Cam into doing the same.

Even with the threat of a severe beating, Zac couldn't stop himself from glancing quizzically at the older woman whenever he thought he could risk it. That draw had dissipated some, but he was still curious about the reasons for its initial appearance, and he was quite sure that it wasn't coincidence that it had turned up twice in as many months. If there was one thing he had learned in his six months as a merman, it was that nothing was coincidence.

Which is why he almost wasn't surprised when he was the one recruited to help Ash move the heavy trays of glasses and dishes from storage into the function room so that the excursion 'debrief' could get underway.

"Fun times, huh?" Ash said suddenly into the silence.

"Are they always like that?"

"Yeah, since before they even started dating, according to my fiancée."

"So you've known them for a while?"

"Yeah, going on what, five years now? Emma has known them longer though."

"Emma's your fiancée, I'm assuming?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

There was silence for another moment as they continued stacking dishes onto the trays they would use to take them out.

"So how long have you been the manager here?"

"Since it opened about three years ago. I was planning on it only being a temporary job when I took it, as a way to make ends meet until a fulltime position at the stable opened up, but I've actually enjoyed it."

"Cool. Why a stable?"

"I've been horseriding for years, even competed a few times, and I've always loved doing it. The owner and managers have become a really good friends and they know I'd love to work with horses and that I'm good at the admin stuff as well. Anyway, so the manager was planning on leaving, so they were going to promote the assistant manager and hire me as fulltime. Instead, the manager's plans fell through and she ended up staying, but it's all worked out for the best, so at least we're still on good terms."

Zac nodded before speaking once more. "So do you still ride and everything?"

"Oh yeah; don't think it's something I could ever _not_ do, you know? Hey, you should come by and try it out sometime. It's challenging but really rewarding."

"Yeah, might have to try it out."

The two men fell into silence once more, this one comfortable rather than awkward. Within seconds they had finished preparing the trays and headed into the cacophonous function room as everyone attempted to get settled for the debriefing.

A few hours later, after everything had finally wrapped up, Zac headed over to where Ash was cleaning up.

"Hey man, I've got to get going – we carpooled over here and I'm already breaking curfew – but thanks for the convo. I'll definitely have to check out the stables. Where did you say it was?"

"Just over in the Hinterland. Look, here's the number, but I'm there pretty much every afternoon when I get off work at 6 and Sunday afternoons. Just give them a call and say that I offered you a private lesson and they'll set you up on a horse and everything. I get the feeling you're going to love it."

Zac took the number gratefully, placing it in his pocket. Cam gave a shout from the other side of the room, prompting Zac to shake Ash''s hand with a final "Thanks."

As they were leaving, he bumped into Rikki. They could do nothing but stare at each other, an event that made Zac realise that the mysterious draw was not one-sided. Rikki was feeling it too. But both were snapped out of it as Cam shoulder-checked his friend with a cursory "bye" to their reluctant host.

Zac walked towards the car, momentarily glancing over his shoulder, mystified once more.

III: Emma

A week and a half since the excursion to Rikki's, Zac was at the stables. He had called them only a couple of days before, setting up a time and date for him to drop by. For some reason, Zac was expecting that he'd just walk up to Ash in the stables and they'd be right to go. But there were insurance and consent and liability forms to sign, as well as the surprisingly arduous process of even choosing a horse for Zac to ride. While most of the time there wasn't much opportunity for the newcomers to pick a particular horse, it apparently paid to be connected at the stables... if a chance meeting with one of its regulars counted as a connection.

Still, Zac proceeded to choose his mount, eventually ending up with an older bay gelding that could be ornery but was generally a solid, reliable beginner horse. As Zac struggled to mount the horse, Ash was off to the side talking to someone out of sight. Zac finally succeeded in his endeavour, and in doing so, made eye contact with the blonde with icy blue eyes that Ash had been chatting with. And cue the return of that mysterious magnetic pull.

Zac was now convinced that it was not a coincidence that it was occurring, nor was it by happenstance that he found himself in the oddly specific set of circumstances that led to him meeting each one of the women that did it to him. The last time such a longshot occurred, it ended in him with a tail. He could not help but think that this set of events was related to those, but how was the real mystery. At least now he knew that they were connected as well: Ash had mentioned that his fiancée had known Rikki for years, and though he did not know for sure, he was prepared to bet that both women were somehow linked to Cleo McCartney as well.

Still, the trance was broken as the horse he was atop shifted his weight in impatience, drawing both Zac's panic and Ash's attention. Emma left, undoubtedly as confused as Zac had been when 'it' had first occurred, while Ash grabbed the reins from Zac and started leading the horse to the indoor ring, chatting amicably with its rider as he did so.

IV: Charlotte

Some weeks later, Zac was on a school excursion to the local university. It may have only been the first term of year 11, so he still had a good year and a half of school before he even found out if he had been accepted to whatever programs he applied for, but the teachers had chosen to start panicking their students early this year. Zac was glad he had chosen to attend despite his uncertainty: it was interesting seeing the campus, and he was curious about what options he had available to him now that marine biology no longer a possibility, especially since his parents (particularly his father) would never accept anything less than a university education from him.

They had spent the day before in the science and engineering schools, both of which were pretty much the sole reasons for his attendance, so he wasn't expecting much from the current day due to its focus on the humanities. But the day suddenly got more interesting with the arrival of their peer mentors- the first, a short, weedy guy with a smart mouth and far more confidence than seemed warranted. The second, however, was who really drew his attention. Or more accurately, garnered that tug on his soul, though even that response was different from what he was used to. The mentors introduced themselves: Nathan 'call me Nate' Connery and Charlotte Watsford.

As the mentors talked about their respective disciplines (Nate with Politics and International Relations; Charlotte, History with a major in Mythology) Zac stared at Charlotte, curious as to why her pull was different to those he had experienced before. With Cleo, Rikki and Emma, it was almost like a warm hug; the sort of soft happiness you feel as you hug an old friend or sibling. With Charlotte, it felt almost... broken.

But there was something else missing. And as Charlotte returned his gaze, he realised. She didn't feel it. With both Rikki and Emma, he was certain that they were just as aware of the odd pull as he was. With Cleo, he realised retrospectively that it was probably the mutual draw that was responsible for her worried glances and urgent speech with Lewis (after all, if he had been married and something weird happened, the first person he'd want to talk to would be his spouse). But Charlotte... there was no mutuality, and that was what seemed broken. It was like looking at a picture, where he could feel a certain fondness for some long lost image of her, but she had no idea that that was the case. It made him feel oddly lost.

That day was difficult for him, especially when he realised that she had started talking about some of the mythology she studied, and found out that her master's thesis was on the different representations of mermaids around the world and their strange similarity despite a lack of cultural interaction. He realised that he may not be the only one who had lost something when whatever connection could have existed was broken before it was even formed.

V: Bella

It had been less than a week since the non-event regarding Charlotte. Zac was still mourning the loss of someone he never knew, so he was certainly appreciating the early morning breeze as he sat on the beach. At that moment he was just drifting; alert enough to notice and appreciate the surfers' skill, but not so caught up that he couldn't just think.

If there was one thing meeting Charlotte had demonstrated, it was that the connection had to have something to do with merpeople. He wasn't sure how, nor was he sure why, but there was something there, and he knew it. He had considered taking it to the girls, but he was still worried about approaching them for help, especially considering it seemed to involve other humans turned merpeople. For now, he was simply trying to work it out himself.

He was momentarily jolted from his thoughts by a particularly skilful ride from one of the surfers, where he stopped being absorbed in his musings enough to truly appreciate not only the skill of the surfer but the general atmosphere of calm and serenity the early morning bestowed. He wished that he could be down there surfing himself, but in the absence of that, at least he knew someone was appreciating the day.

Over an hour later and it was late enough that the last of the surfers had bailed for the next swell just over the NSW border, but not so late that people had started swimming yet. Zac took advantage of the rare moment of isolation to stand and stretch, toes curling in the just slightly sunwarmed sand. The sun still hung low over the Pacific, the wind fresh as he inhaled its chill. He wrapped the solitude around himself, savouring this rare moment of absolute stillness in a life full of chaos...

A stillness broken by the gentle scrape of board grating against sand. Zac glanced over at the tall, goodlooking blond man scraping some of the excess wax off his obviously well used board. He seemed disinterested in conversation, and almost disappointed as their eyes met. Perhaps it wasn't just him who knew that these early hours in the morning were designed for quiet reflection and calm. And the realisation that they were kindred spirits in that regard was enough that any resentment Zac may have, however illogically, been feeling dissipated like breath in the wind.

The older man seemed satisfied with his attempts at maintenance enough for the moment, so as Zac settled himself in the sand he was soon joined by the other man.

"Will." Will leaned over and offered his hand to the brunet.

"Zac." No longer strangers, both just turned their faces back to the east as the sun rose higher in the sky over the open ocean, horizon broken only by Mako and some of smaller neighbouring islands. Zac watched with some amusement as a ship (that would be large if he were standing next to it, but may as well be a toy for its current lack of size) crawled across the line, sharp edges thrown in relief against the bluing sky. His amusement must have piqued Will's curiosity, as the silence was broken with a question not long afterwards.

"What's so funny?"

"Just the ship. It's kind of ironic that something so huge on a human scale is so dwarfed by nature."

Will's only response was a short chuckle.

Not long afterwards, beachgoers started arriving, and Zac began to leave, ready to return to real life. Before he had even turned around though, Will was approached by a beautiful woman about the same age, the perfect Australian beachbabe - all tan skin and white teeth and hair that couldn't be called anything other than sun-bleached blonde. As she approached, Zac met her eyes, and felt that mysterious tug at his soul, that perhaps was no longer so mysterious.

It healed some of the hurt from Charlotte to realise that this tug was not so strong (instead of a sibling, she felt more like a cousin), and that it was also reciprocated. Will looked in confusion as an acquaintance and his wife seemed to get lost in each other's eyes, and a lesser man probably would have decked the teen on the spot. But Will had built an immunity to some of the strangeness that was unfortunately unavoidable as a result of his wife's unique traits (and what kind of man – and husband – would he be if he condemned her for the bad even as he welcomed the good?), and that immunity served him well once more. Instead of decking the younger man, he merely shoved him a little. Enough to send him to the ground, anyway. After all, he was a good man, not a saintly one and that was still his wife being ogled.

As both Bella and Zac woke from their trance, they were both embarrassed and self-aware enough that they refused to meet the other's eyes, even as they attempted to explain to Will what exactly had transpired. Fortunately, Will stopped them before their stuttered apologies and aborted explanations got too embarrassing (though he probably could have stopped them sooner) and simply said that it was no big deal.

Zac refused to look him in the eyes as he retreated away from the beach, and resolutely refused to blush as Will laughed and Bella kept stuttering as he walked away.

I: And the one time he did

After the episode at the beach that morning, Zac finished his wander home with a certain level of stoniness, trying his best to pretend it never happened. Or at least ignore that it had happened until he could go for a swim to clear his mind. While it was not the first time he had gone into to that trance state, it was the first time he had gotten caught red handed, and the first time someone had needed to knowingly break him out of it. It was that embarrassment, that 'caught with your pants down' moment that had prevented him from fully realising the implications of the entire interaction that morning.

He knew with certainty from Charlotte (though he had no clue why) that these events, these trances, were all related. The events that led to their occurrence were all too coincidental. That he had been in Lewis' class at all when his wife came to pick him up was weird enough. That mere weeks later he had been in the exact circumstances necessary to meet Rikki, and consequently Emma... the odds of any one of those events occurring, let alone all three (and then more to boot) made Zac certain that none of it could be called an isolated incident.

He also knew that if it was impossible and inexplicable, it was related to the whole merman business. He knew the likely explanation (that maybe he wasn't as alone in the journey he had undertaken as a human-turned-mythical-creature as he had assumed), but he refused to acknowledge it, for fear that he would be disappointed.

Maybe it was the longshot explanation that was true. Maybe it was all in his head, and that he merely wanted someone to share his burdens with, someone to understand so badly, that he made up this whole set of imaginary circumstances in which he formed an instant connection with five women he'd never met before.

He had almost convinced himself that this was the correct explanation over the course of his journey back home where he had a light breakfast before leaving once more. He became certain as he swum towards Mako, the still cool water clearing his head and allowing him to think logically.

But logic went out the window the moment he got through the tunnel at Mako and realised he wasn't alone. And that the other people in the cave were four of the five women he had formed that instant bond with over the course of the last couple of months.

All five of them opened their mouths, as if to speak. And all of them shut them again. Open... and shut.

Finally, Rikki spoke. "Well, this is unexpected."

Bonus: Will

"You know, I wished so hard that I could be a merman. I know it seems like a ridiculous desire, but the girls were always so happy and so connected to the ocean... I wanted that for myself."

"I'm glad you didn''t force it."

"I don't know why I didn''t. I knew how to to do it, when it needed to be done, what would happen afterwards... There was nothing stopping me. Except every time I even considered it, I just felt almost... disgusted. I don't know. It seems stupid."

"It's not. Maybe you're more connected to the ocean than you thought: after all, you were smart enough to listen to it. Charlotte wasn't and look what happened to her."

"What does Charlotte have to do with it?"

"Didn't you ever find it odd that circumstances lined up so perfectly? Think about it- what are the chances that three girls, one of which was a complete stranger to the other two, would end up stranded on an island where their only chance of getting off was by swimming through a magical pool at the exact moment the moon passed overhead, thereby turning them into mermaids? I'd say its something of a long shot. I don't think you could – or would – disagree. But then what are the chances that I would end up on the island on the night of the full moon, needing to take a leak at the exact time, in the exact spot necessary to get into the moon pool so that I could get a tail as well? Yeah, I know, long shot.

Did you ever wonder why Charlotte ended up insane from becoming a mermaid, but everyone else has been a mermaid for longer – hell, even I've been a merman longer than she was a mermaid – than her and show no signs of losing their minds? I did. So I got to thinking, what was different? The fact is, something bigger than just us was at work to turn us into what we are. But Charlotte... She orchestrated it herself. There were a whole bunch of things that tried to stop her. I honestly think that she was meant to be a mermaid and it would have happened for her if she hadn't forced it. By doing it herself though, she lost her chance.

I think that if you had tried to force it yourself as well, you would have gone insane and lost any chance you had of being involved in this world because of it. You would have lost Bella. And I think when the Moon and the Ocean were telling you that, you listened."

Will sat, gobsmacked. But he didn't argue, and that night, he hugged his wife a little harder.


End file.
